Stone-Hell on the Borderlands Session #21 (26 FEB 2024)

   Oh the warm sun shines down upon Kendall Keep while storm clouds gather over the Trollscrag Mountains where the forlorn and accursed Stone-Hell lays. We have been having a nice warm spell at teh tail end of February here in Kentucky and rather than obsess over weather charts I just look out the window and  that's the weather on the borderlands albeit about 10 degrees warmer as I envision the Borderlands I am using being a bit more like northern Florida in temperature. The abundance of marsh and swamp being my excuse although we have swamps in Kentucky too. It works and keeps things easy for myself.

   We picked up inside of Kendall Keep after the big score of the wooden coffers of a crypt loaded with Platinum pieces that Stonus & Daagun found in the crypts they had discovered behind a locked set of doors in ye' Hell's Antechamber (1A) section of Stone-Hell. NPC Retainers bought new armor while the party members took advantage of the Writ of Residence which Stonus and pother members of the Coddiwomple Company had been awarded for the rescue of Timmy the scullery boy from the Tavern. One of the  apartments listed in Kendall Keep residence was purchased; a small house which is a wo story affair of 2 10' x 10' rooms per level made of brick which also obligates Stonus to become a member of the militia and pay some taxes during the harvest season. I rule all of this takes about a week within the Keep and during that time I quickly roll a 1st Halfling Fighter named Zalfer whom Daagun recruits into their company which they are debating on naming something like stones, two large rocks in a sling or some ball sac reference which AI art will have a field day with I am sure. This brings the adventuring group to a total of 4 with each PC having a single retainer apiece, guard dogs for the donkeys and hiring 4 men-at-arm mercenary types to watch they animals while they delve back into the depths of Stone-Hell.

   Stonus having hit 4th level last session chooses another War-Chanter style FTR Option rounding out his Dwarf as a Beer Drinking Singing adventurer. A type of Bard using the FTR Options with his ability to boost travel rates and if he sacrifices a round may grant a Bless effect for 5 rounds after recounting the deeds of great Dwarf heroes and other adventurers. I had decided to allow FTR martial types a FTR Option every 2 levels and all other Martial Types a FTR Option every 3 levels. Daagun is eyeing becoming a sort of  Halfling War-Slinger via these options. 

  There are no random encounters heading to Stone-Hell, 5's & 6's rolled

  They quickly head towards the main entrance with plans to delve directly to the crypts they discovered last session. Leaving the Men-at-Arms guard dogs and donkeys at the entrance to the dungeon they quickly descend into the depths. They also opt for no torches since it is a pair of Dwarf & Halfling. I recently ruled that in my current OSE game Halflings have 30' Dark Vision so they are taking afvnatage of the cover of darkness this session.

   There are no Wandering monsters in their journey to the old crypt doors. I had allowed the FTR/THF to make another Open Locks Check to lock he doors back previously and since he had made the Open locks twice require no Roll to unlock the Main Crypt Doors this time. HE can take a Turn to Lock or Unlock this door whenever he chooses. They enter the hall and begin opening the cells one to a time and the first one houses a Ghoul which causes some worry but is quickly dispatched, it is found to have a bracelet charm which Daagun puts on and is amazed to see it shrank to fit his halfling sized wrist.

  I rolled for surprise and the ghoul got I but its attacks were terrible rolls and I described it as having rolling bulging eyes and a tongue that lashes out randomly while it slobbered and gibbered insanely. With comparisons to looney tunes and beetlejuice to emphasize the appearance it had. This leads to some commentary about what makes a creature seem more horrifying over mundane but then we quickly get back to the action.

   They adopt a methodical approach to opening the crypt doors and this results in the party being in this hall for nearly two in game hours overall. Surprise is gotten by the monsters several times as they burst forth from their crypts when the doors are forced open by Stonus several times. The party then investigates each crypt which is a full turn search. This is done for 5 separate crypts and the crypt contents rolled by the PCs who opened the doors. These contents include Giant Rats, Skeletons, Zombies and another ghoul.  

  The Giant Rat crypt however become more of a protracted battle that inflicted more harm on the party than previous encounters this session I allow the PCs to try and distract the Giant Rats by throwing food a their initial reaction roll was indifferent but they botch the second reaction roll and the rats attack. Tossing food amongst them they hit several in the noggin and they then ravenously attack. Slightly comical but then the combat had their heavily armored PC getting hit several times. SWARMED BY RATS ! Eventually they are defeated but are seriously wounded. There have been 8 wandering monster checks resulting in nothing but now they get 2 in a row. The first were Kobolds but they did not engage the party just spied upon them from the open door at the end of the Hall they were in but after combat I roll another and this time it is Orcs whom see the Kobolds first, who then talk to the orcs into attacking the PCs rather than hassling them. I allow the entire party including the Retainers to roll Hear Noise with universal failure so they do not hear any of the conversation going on 40' away in the Hall. Then the Orcs bust in after the melee with the Giant Rats and gain surprise !

   I admit my Surprise rounds were not consistent this evening. I remove the use of DEX & Shield during the Surprise Round and those who have Surprise actually get a +1 to Hit as well. I was not particularly paying attention to the PC AC which would have resulted possibly in a few more hits upon the party but the Orc rolls were pretty horrible and after a 3 round melee they were all defeated. I had reduced the chance for surprise on the crypts but the Rolls were all incredibly low so I surmise that the Undead in the crypts had heard the commotion of combat and the opening of the other crypts and had been laying in wait. My voice is still giving out after last weeks illness as well so meh, we do the best we can. In the future I am going to have PCs go over their AC during Surprise rounds so it is a bit clearer. We are all having a blast so it does not really matter.

   Feeling rougher for wear the group opts to open the door at the end of the Hall before opening the last two crypts and discover an irregular sized chapel of sorts. A grinning skull is upon the far wall which is about 3 foot tall and an altar made entirely of skulls. Daagun cautiously enters the chamber while Stonus & the retainers remain in the hall. There are no Wandering Monster results while he take about two turns to get to the Skull and inspect it. Then the party filters in and begins searching the northern section of the chapel while the halflings inspect the altar and skull some more, nothing is found by the retainer Zelfar is required to make a Save v Spells and fails it so begins to cackle uncontrollable from some magical effect of the altar of skulls. They decide to check the last two crypts and leave since they have several wounded party members and just a bi of treasure, a magical trinket and 5 pieces of jewelry taken from some zombies. 

   The cackling however attracts another wandering monster and as they are attempting to check the remaining crypts are assaulted by a Giant Gecko Lizard. The cackling effect doubles the chance for Wandering Monsters and since everyone is a short race they look like perfect food for the giant lizard. Tis battel goes particularly rough for Stonus and he is mauled repeatedly by the Giant lizard, they nearly took it down in the first round by the party all setting for charge with spears. Everyone carries one for the benefit of setting for Charge (Doubled Damage) & its ability to be used from the second rank. Even in fantasy games Spear > Sword for versatility imo 

   Opening the last pair of crypts they do encounter another Ghoul and Stonus ends up shattering his shield. The battle is brief but tense as the paralysis of a ghoul holds much fear for a smaller party over a larger one. They gag and bind their cackling retainer and leave the dungeon without any further encounters within Stone-Hell. ON the way back I roll an encounter with Lizardmen but the reaction roll was indifferent and since the party had not tasty elf in it they just observed them heading back tot he keep, plus they were outnumbered 2 to 1 so ambushing a much large party seemed unreasonable.

  Fun session, covered about 10 rooms in exploration with some being non restocked areas but they had to travel through them cautiously so it counts. My remaining two players are having a good time and i think I am adding another pair as we go into March. I may see about running this or Restenford more often and keeping my Dwarf OSE Dark Citadel game at bi-weekly. Getting more active outside of the home so trying not to overload myself too much.

  Game Well, Game Often Y'all